Light Emitting Diodes used for car applications has eased the pain of the motor vehicle drivers and safety on road has significantly increased since sufficient visibility is achieved by LED auto headlights. Drivers at night regularly complain about poor visibility on the road, especially about how it becomes hard to see the distance of other vehicles coming from the opposite direction because of the strong glare. It is also a reality that around 40% of fatal accidents occur during the night. At present, LED-based automotive lighting is being used by all major car manufacturers.
LEDs have many characteristics that make them better than Xenon and halogen lighting systems: LED lights have longer life cycles and offer better power efficiency. The light percentage of the LEDs nearly achieve daylight quality. Lighting solutions based on LED technology also provide car manufacturers with an opportunity to use installation space in headlamps effectively. LEDs are not just an energy efficient light source and long-lasting, they give OEMs with inventive capability better approaches to combine lighting function with creative styling to create various shapes and assemblies that can perfectly match their models. LED lighting is also available for low beam and high beam headlamps, brake lights, interior reading lights, rear combination lamps, side lamps, position and marker lamps etc.
For the automotive sector, LEDs are rapidly becoming the preferred lighting solutions and are expected to be the fastest growing technology in the global automotive lighting systems market. LED lighting for four-wheelers is constantly developing. Their potential is set to grow as LED modules improve and with the introduction of new technologies, for example, OLEDs (organic LEDs), which produce homogenous light will create a new opportunity for market growth. Interior lighting segments such as backlighting of LCD displays, indicator lights in car body see high penetration levels of LED lighting solution.
Furthermore, auto manufacturers ongoing focus on customer safety and comfort propels the global LED lighting. Increase in the production of hybrid and electric vehicles equipped with high quality LED lighting systems is another driving factor in the global automotive LED lighting market. Even with all the positive points, the high cost of LED lighting remains a hurdle in some areas such as headlamp applications and is predicted to hinder the global LED automotive lighting system market. Currently, the cost of production which is high significantly affects the aftermarket sales of LED lightings, particularly in growing economies such as China, India and South Africa.
The global LED Lighting (Automotive) market is segmented into seven geographical regions namely North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan) the Middle East & Africa, and Japan. Asia Pacific region owing to the fast-growing automotive industry in developing countries such as India, China and South Korea is expected to show a significant growth in the automotive LED lighting market. Europe and North America are anticipated to dominate the LED lighting market in terms of demand.
